Heat try to crack NBA's elite level: back-to-back champs

History regards repeat winners differently

April 19, 2013|By Shandel Richardson, Sun Sentinel

MIAMI — — They came together with the idea of being something different, a chance to separate from the rest.

The Miami Heat did that right away, with what many considered their excessive introduction ceremony for the Big Three — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — nearly three years ago. Last season, they took home an NBA championship.

This year, they also became one of few teams to win at least 66 games in a regular season. They even found a way to make the late portion of this season interesting, with a 27-game winning streak.

Still, there's something more for this team to accomplish.

Back-to-back titles would put the Heat in rare company. It has happened just 11 times, leaving many one-time champions with less-heralded legacies. The Heat begin their chance of joining the elite when they open the postseason Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

"It hasn't been done often," guard Wade said. "Winning [one] championship puts a team in a different category because everyone hasn't had the opportunity to do it. Winning back-to-back is obviously tough. It hasn't been done that often. It's tough to do, and we understand the challenge."

The Heat are in position to either rank among the teams to repeat — such as the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets — or be like the San Antonio Spurs, who won three titles in five years.

Or, they can become like the Philadelphia 76ers of the early 1980s, the mid-1970s Portland Trail Blazers and the 2005-06 Heat, teams good enough to win once but unable to sustain it for an extended period.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Heat center Bosh said. "I've been dreaming about this game since I was a little kid. I only wanted to win one [championship]. To have a chance to compete for a second one, it's kind of like a dream come true. We're in a position now where it's like, 'All right, we need to get greedy."'

The Heat are hoping to duplicate the Celtics of old, not the recent team that featured Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. After winning a championship their first year together in 2007-08, injuries stopped their bid to repeat. A year later, they were defeated by the Lakers.

It left Boston coach Doc Rivers thinking about what could have been. The Celtics were well on the way to consecutive championships when they started 27-2, including 19 straight wins to open the 2008-09 season. Things changed when Garnett went down with a season-ending knee injury.

"As good as the year the Heat has had, our year was better in the second year until Kevin went down," Rivers said. "We were dominating that year. It's tough to win when your horses aren't there. Take LeBron [James] out and see what title hopes they're talking about. That's just the way it is. That's part of it. It really is. You need to be really good. You need to be lucky and healthy."

Health appears the only factor in the way of the Heat. Injuries stopped another great team from receiving the recognition of others in history. After winning the 1976 title, the Trail Blazers were rolling the following year. At 50-10, they were set to enter the playoffs as the favorite until star center Bill Walton was lost for the season.

The Heat have been fortunate: Wade, Bosh and James haven't dealt with serious injury. The closest call in three seasons was when Bosh missed nine games with an abdominal strain last season. He returned just in time to help defeat the Celtics in the conference finals.

"I think the only thing that will prevent them from repeating is any type of injuries that could evolve over the course of the playoffs," ESPN analyst Flip Saunders said. "They can't afford to have a Chris Bosh or they can't afford to have a Dwyane Wade, or LeBron, any of those guys get hurt. Last year, if Chris Bosh doesn't come back against Boston, Boston probably beats Miami in the series and Miami is not in the championship and they don't win a championship. If they can keep healthy, I don't see anyone stopping them."

If no one does, the Heat will avoid being lumped with the 2003-04 Pistons and 1982-83 Sixers. Both established a period of dominance only to win just one title. Philadelphia followed its championship season with losses in the first round and conference finals the next two years.

Detroit, despite being the No. 1 seed the year after winning a championship, lost to the Spurs in the Finals the next season. The Pistons' run ended with a loss to the eventual champion Heat in the 2006 conference finals. A year later, Miami lost to the Bulls in the first round.

"I know how hard it is to repeat," Heat forward Udonis Haslem said. "And now I know how fast people can call you a one-hit team. I definitely don't want to be a part of that conversation."

The lack of a championship hangover is what the Heat have on their side. Allen, who joined Miami last summer after five seasons in Boston, said there has been no mention of last year. That is the exact mentality former Pistons guard Mark Aguirre said was present the year they won the second of two straight championships in 1989-90.

"It [losing] happens when they are reading more newspaper headlines than being in the gym," Aguirre said. "That is the first downfall of a team that's trying to build a dynasty. If anybody got off that page on our team, they were on the trading block really quick. When I look at the Miami Heat, they don't have any other goals in mind. As long as injuries don't occur, this team is going to be a title team as long as Dwyane and LeBron are healthy."